Lincoln Unified OKs drug testing

STOCKTON - Lincoln Unified's school board approved a mandatory random drug-testing policy for its athletes and cheerleaders late Wednesday.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - Lincoln Unified's school board approved a mandatory random drug-testing policy for its athletes and cheerleaders late Wednesday.

The vote was 4-1, with Trustee Don Ruhstaller opposed because he would like "greater buy-in" to the policy from parents and students.

The policy will go into effect for the 2013-14 academic year and makes Lincoln Unified the first district in San Joaquin County to adopt such a policy. The vote came after three hours of discussion during a school board meeting at Claudia Landeen Elementary.

Parents spoke for and against the plan. One mother, Karyn Johnson, said she was pleased by the decision because of the experiences of her daughter, who is a junior and plays on Lincoln High School's volleyball team. Johnson said her daughter had shared with her a comment from a teammate.

The teammate said "her whole goal this whole season was to get my daughter wasted," according to Johnson. The policy, Johnson said, will protect her daughter.

But another parent, Leslie Weiss, said, "I don't think this is a good idea. My big concern is that at-risk high school students are looking for adults to trust. I think mandatory drug testing might erode some of that trust."

Ron Strauther, the father of a 15-year-old Lincoln High golfer, called the testing an "invasive procedure." He added, "I wouldn't want my 15-year-old daughter to be told, 'Go in a room and give a sample.' "

But another parent, Bret Parker, predicted students would "man up to the embarrassment of giving urine samples. This is not an invasion of privacy."

The move could leave Lincoln Unified vulnerable to a civil-liberties lawsuit should one of the school's athletes decide to take the matter to court, said Gary Gershon, a representative from the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Lincoln Unified Superintendent Tom Uslan said the district's policy is intended to aid students, not to discipline them.

"We are certainly aware there may be individuals who pursue legal avenues," Uslan said. "We believe we are going to operate well within the confines of the law. Therefore we don't feel our exposure will be significant."

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld testing by a 6-3 vote in 1995. Two years ago, a California court rejected a Redding school district's policy of testing participants in non-athletic extracurricular activities.

According to Lincoln Unified data, about one of every five drug- and alcohol-related suspensions of Lincoln High students in recent years were of athletes. Lincoln says it has lined up financial donors to pay for the testing. Alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates and steroids all could be targeted in the testing, and the district may add Valium to the list, pending the approval of legal counsel.

Under Lincoln's policy, students must consent in writing to the possibility of being tested to participate in sports, including cheerleading. About 15 percent of the members of each team would be summoned for testing during a season, at random and with only short notice.

Athletes testing positive would need medical clearance and would have to show proof of enrollment in a six-week drug-education program to rejoin their teams. Uslan said the district will offer its own free program.